


for the mission.

by rosesforkl



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Implied Relationships, M/M, Voltron, alternative ending, blade of marmora, episode refrences, haggar (mentioned) - Freeform, holt siblings, keith dies in my story... again, season four
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 15:05:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12368310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesforkl/pseuds/rosesforkl
Summary: alternatively: lotor doesn't show up and keith ends up being sacrificed





	for the mission.

**Author's Note:**

> season four made me a mess and I loved every second of it. I love keith and him leaving Voltron made my heart hurt, but I'm happy that he was trying his best. the only part I hated was in episode 6 when he was going to sacrifice himself, I was going to cry. so, have this

 

It happened in a flash. The shield went out and moments after, Hagger's ship disappeared out of sight.

"Good job, Keith!" Shiro congratulated over the comm. If he and Keith were together, he most likely would've pat the kid on the back.

"Yeah, Keith, I'm impressed." Lance smiles. He finds it ironic that he's cheering on Keith, considering the fact that they were practically at each other's throats at the start.

"Thank you for what you did, Keith," Allura joins in. She's been on the edge with him since he turned out to be half Galra, but she's proud to have the chance to be apart of a family with him.

They celebrate for a moment or two. Everyone does, except Matt. He just listens to everyone's happy cries of victory; he doesn't know how to break the news to everyone. Maybe if he didn't say anything, no one will know. Of course, though, they'd bring back the ship and go in to get keith. Only to find him dead, and Matt thought that was worse than being told about it.

So he takes a deep breath, looking back at his crew. Their joy is the first to die off when they realize that Matt is as happy. They're about to ask him what's wrong, but they speaks over the comm. "Hey, guys..."

"Hey, Matt! Can't you believe it? We're so much closer than ever at defeating the Galra!" Pidge exclaims. She first bumps the air.

"Yeah, we are. But there's a downside to this victory." Matt takes a shaky breath. "Keith knew we couldn't break down the shield with our weapons. So he dove in... Guys, he sacrificed himself so the shield could be broken."

Silence.

Silence continued.

"Stop playing with death like that, Matt." Shiro is the first to speak. He wants to believe that Matt is messing with them. He wants Matt to be wrong. Keith  _can't_  be dead.

"He would've said something by now, wouldn't he?" Matt questioned.

"He  _can't_  be dead, Matt! He's a big part of this team, there's no way he's dead." Lance, like Shiro, didn't want to believe it. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the controls in front of him.

"Every member of the Blade of Marmora understands that the mission is more important than the individual." Kolivan's voice is low as he brings himself into the conversation.

"What?"

"A couple weeks ago, during a mission. We were aborting the mission, Keith and I were on the ship. Regris had not come back so Keith went back in for him. When they both came back, I told Keith that the Blades all know that  _the mission is more important than the individual_ ," Kolivan explained. He took a deep breath. "Keith sacrificed himself because I told him that."

Silence part two.

Silence part two continued.

No one knew what to say. Everyone was shocked, scared, upset. Matt could only listen to everyone's breathing. How shaky they've become, how lost they feel.

It was a victory, for sure. But not victory enough when it comes at the cost of someone's life.

Shiro  _wants_  to be angry at Kolivan, he wants to. But Keith decided to train with the Blades, and to go on missions with them, he had to follow their rules and live to their expectations.He didn't want to believe either of them. He didn't want to face the truth. So he laughed. Hysterically, attempting to push away everything that's been said. "Alright team, we've done what we've come to do. Let's all head back and get the rest we all deserve. Thanks for the help everyone. Keith, I'm proud of you."

"Shiro..." Hunk speaks. His voice is barely above a whisper.

"He's right. Let's all pull back and get some rest. Milkshakes, anyone? Keith, as far as I know, you haven't had a milkshake from Kaltenecker yet," Lance played along. He didn't want to admit that his vision became blurry and that his heart was hurting. Maybe he didn't get along with keith at first, but it's been  _months_  since they saved Shiro. Keith had grown on him, and Lance can't shake the feeling that he's one of the reasons as to why Keith left Voltron for the Blades. That he's one of the reasons why Keith sacrificed himself.

No one spoke. They had all silently agreed to going back home, to grieve on their own.

Matt and Pidge ended in Pidge's room, hugging each other as they silently cried for the boy. Allura didn't take her armor off, seeing as she needed something pink for her mourning. Coran sat with Allura, staring at the floor. Shiro was at the training deck; he was training the hardest level he could. Hunk moved about the kitchen, grabbing this and that. He grieved by baking, making cookies and cakes.

As for Lance, he sat in his room. He had been staring at the wall for hours on end. Not a word had been spoken since they returned to the castle. He hadn't interacted with anyone as soon as Kolivan left them to their own devices. So there he sat, in full armor with a blade in his hand. He turned the blade to the side, sadly smiling at his reflection. Red  _did_  look good on him.God, red is such an amazing color; Lance had to admit that he didn't think he'd look good in red. But look at him, he's rocking the red paladin armor. He's got the blade and everything. He's only left to wonder what Red'll think when he sees Lance again.

He sighed. He promised himself that he'd never put on the red paladin armor because that meant him leaving Blue was official. He might not be ready to leave her, but she's ready for him to move on. So that's what Lance must do, and the first step was taking the blade. The next was putting the armor on. The third step? Being Shiro's right hand man.

 _It's not going to be easy,_ Lance thought _. But we have to move on at some point._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Keith died, again, in one of my stories. Actually, as much as I hate angst, all I can write about is Keith dying. I love him so much.
> 
> Please check out my other stories. I'm going to be rewriting my most recent one (aside from this one) so it could be more accurate, and more entertaining.


End file.
